French police use ‘aggressive’ tactics against migrant boats: Footage

Video footage has surfaced exhibiting French police using what has been labelled as “aggressive ways” in makes an attempt to discourage migrant boats from crossing the English Channel.

The footage, obtained and launched by Lighthouse Stories in collaboration with Le Monde, Der Spiegel and The Observer, reveals varied instances of heavy-handed, doubtlessly harmful, ways utilized by authorities in France. 

In a single video, a police boat encircles a dinghy carrying people sporting life jackets, creating waves because it manoeuvres. Passengers of the dingy are then filmed struggling to take away water flooding their boat. 

A separate video captures a police boat navigating near a migrant boat, with an officer allegedly brandishing pepper spray at these onboard. 

Lighthouse Stories, in its investigation, claims to have acquired footage, paperwork, and witness testimonies illustrating the usage of “aggressive strategies” by French police.

Kevin Saunders, former Chief Immigration Officer at UK Border Power, instructed native media that whereas the footage could seem regarding, it was probably aimed toward stopping potential tragedies. He emphasised the necessity for motion to keep away from the chance of boats sinking.

Steve Valdez-Symonds, Refugee and Migrant Rights Director at Amnesty Worldwide UK, urged for proactive measures to assist cease the issue on the root and keep away from migrants making such harmful journeys. 

It was essential to supply protected asylum procedures moderately than solely specializing in intercepting boats, he claimed. 

In response to preliminary figures from the British authorities, roughly 30,000 crossings had been recorded throughout the English Channel final 12 months, representing a lower of over a 3rd from the earlier 12 months’s determine.

Prime Minister Rishi Sunak has prioritised “stopping the boats” as a part of his authorities’s immigration technique, which incorporates implementing stricter immigration legal guidelines to discourage migrant flows throughout the channel.